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December 19

Commentary of the day
John Tauler (c.1300-1361), Dominican
Sermon for the Feast of Christmas (trans. Eric Colledge, Sister Jane, OP)

"But now you will be speechless"

Today we christians celebrate a threefold birth... The first and most sublime of these three births which we celebrate today is the birth, within the Godhead, of the only Son of the Heavenly Father, divinely begotten by him and distinct from him in person only. The second is his human birth, when Mary became his mother without any loss of her virgin purity. The third is the spiritual birth; every day and at every hour God is born into the souls of all the just, through grace and love...

For the third birth there must be nothing left in us but a pure intention toward God; no will to be or became or obtain anything for ourselves. We must exist only to make a place for him, the highest innermost place, where he may do his work; there, when we are no longer putting ourselves in his way, he can be born in us... St. Augustine said: "Empty yourself, so that you may be filled; go out, so that you can go in." And in another place, he said: "Noble soul, noble creature, why do you seek outside yourself for something which in its most constant, truest and purest form is within you? You share God's own nature: what business can you have with created things?" If a man would prepare an empty place in the depths of his soul there can be no doubt that God must fill it at once. If there were a void on earth the heaven would fall. God will not allow anything to be void. That would be contrary to his nature and his just ordinance.

You must be silent. Then God will be born in you, utter his word in you and you shall hear it; but be very sure that if you speak, the word will have to be silent. The way to serve the word is to keep silent and listen. If you go out, he will most surely come in; as much as you go out for him, he will come in to you; no more, no less.